first time home
The dilapidated bus bumped and jolted its way into the town's bus station, finally coming to a stop with a screeching screech of brakes.
Wen Sheng's head felt heavy from the shaking, the strap of her backpack dug into her shoulders, and half of her body felt numb. Because she had taken motion sickness medicine, she slept fitfully the whole way, her dreams fragmented, filled with the sounds of rain and screeching brakes.
She slowly stood up, picked up her umbrella and luggage, and followed the crowd toward the car door. Her steps were unsteady, each step feeling like walking on cotton.
As soon as she got out of the car, a wave of humid heat hit her, mixed with the smell of dirt and car exhaust, making her almost want to vomit again.
The sky was still overcast, and the rain showed no signs of letting up.
The town's streets are narrow, lined with low houses covered in tiles and advertising posters. Water drips from the eaves through the gaps in the tiles, forming muddy water that flows along the road and towards the drains.
After getting off the bus, Wen Sheng didn't rush back to the village. She planned to stay where she was for a while and wait until she felt better before leaving.
"Hey, Er Ya—!"
A shout suddenly came from afar, mixed with a familiar accent and address.
Wen Sheng looked up, searching for the source of the sound.
"Er Ya, over here! Which way are you looking?!"
Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw a person holding an umbrella at the station, trying to stand on tiptoe and wave at her.
"Spring Flower!"
Wen Sheng was stunned for a moment, not expecting that the person who came to pick her up was Chunhua.
She thought no one would come to pick her up.
After all, during her junior high school years, she had long been accustomed to walking back to the village from the town. The road was bumpy and muddy, and she would carry her schoolbag, step through puddles, and walk alone in the twilight and rain. She had done it so many times that she couldn't remember anymore.
So she never expected anyone to come and pick her up. Even though it was raining so hard today, she just held up the borrowed black umbrella, intending to walk slowly with her head down, feeling a sense of emptiness in her heart.
Until she heard someone shout in the distance, "Er Ya! What are you standing there for?"
Wen Sheng suddenly looked up and saw Chunhua running towards him, splashing through puddles. Her hair was already wet, and her sleeves were covered in rain stains.
She was panting as she took the schoolbag from Wen Sheng's shoulder and skillfully slung it over her own shoulder.
"Are you carsick? Your face is so pale, and you're still standing here in the wind." Chunhua frowned as she looked at her, and then pushed the umbrella towards her.
Her gaze fell on the umbrella handle, and she suddenly asked, "Hey, why does this umbrella look so unfamiliar? Is it from our family?"
Wen Sheng looked down at the black umbrella in her hand and said, "No, it was lent to me by the bookstall owner."
"Borrowed?"
"Um."
Upon hearing this, Wen Chunhua paused, glanced back at her, and clicked her tongue: "You know how it is here, it can rain anytime, and you didn't even bring an umbrella."
After saying that, he reached out and raised the umbrella higher for her, blocking the rain that was blowing from the side: "Didn't you check the sky before you came back? It's not like you have to go home just because it's raining heavily."
“Chunhua, I miss you,” Wen Sheng suddenly said.
As soon as the words left their mouths, both of them were stunned for a moment.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Wen Chunhua turned her head away, not looking at her, and said in a muffled voice, "Why are you acting like a little crybaby after going to high school?"
The rain was still pouring down, and my feet were covered in a thick layer of mud. My shoes were soaked through, my socks were wet, and the soles of my shoes groaned with every twitch of my toes.
The two walked out of the station side by side. The rain had lessened a bit, but it hadn't stopped yet.
Wen Chunhua tilted the umbrella towards Wen Sheng and looked her up and down: "Er Ya, you have to tell me what high school life is really like?"
Wen Sheng thought for a moment: "It's much more tiring than junior high school. There are more classes, more homework, and more exams. We just finished our monthly exams."
"So many exams? Can you handle it?" Wen Chunhua stopped and looked around, then reached out and nudged Wen Sheng's arm.
"It's alright, I'm used to it," Wen Sheng said casually, but she sounded a little guilty.
"Don't lie to me." Wen Chunhua narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing her, and gently pressed her finger on her arm. "Why do you look thinner again? Have you been eating well at school?"
Wen Sheng shrugged, her eyes darting around, and muttered under her breath, "The cafeteria food isn't to my liking..."
"Whether it suits your taste is one thing, whether you've eaten enough is another!" Wen Chunhua frowned and said irritably, "What happened to the rice you brought last time? Did you save it to buy books again?"
Wen Sheng opened her mouth, but after a long pause, she mumbled, "The book was borrowed, it didn't cost much..."
Wen Chunhua got even angrier when she heard this, "You don't have much meat on your bones to begin with, and you're going to go hungry instead of eating to buy books to read."
Seeing that she was really about to start scolding, Wen Sheng quickly interrupted, "Chunhua, tell me what has happened in the village this month."
Wen Chunhua snorted, but didn't press the matter further. She changed the subject, saying, "What else could it be? Just those few trivial matters. But there's one you'll definitely like to hear."
"What?"
"Do you remember that old hen from Aunt Li's house?" Wen Chunhua said, nudging her lightly with her elbow. "Last time, it went crazy and led a bunch of chicks to Zhang Tiezhu's house to steal vegetables. It ate all the vegetables they planted, leaving only the stalks. Zhang Tiezhu was so angry that he jumped up and down, yelling and cursing at the whole village, demanding that Aunt Li pay him back."
Wen Sheng chuckled: "Then the old hen is still alive? I remember it was always fighting during the New Year."
"Not only is it alive, it's getting more and more arrogant. Guess what Aunt Li said? She said that her husband told her in a dream to leave the chicken behind, and that she shouldn't touch it, or she would blame Zhang Tiezhu."
Wen Sheng slipped and almost stepped into a puddle. She quickly grabbed Wen Chunhua's arm to steady herself, laughing so hard her shoulders shook: "And now?"
“That’s right.” Wen Chunhua reached out and pulled her steady, tilting the umbrella towards her again. “Zhang Tiezhu has been making a fuss every day for the past few days, saying that Aunt Li’s chickens are ruining his vegetable garden, and he wants to drag her to the village loudspeaker so that everyone can judge the matter.”
"Then I missed out?" Wen Sheng said with some regret.
"Yes, as a result, everyone in the village sided with Aunt Li. Zhang Tiezhu couldn't stand it, so yesterday he invited the village's film projection team to show a movie and take the opportunity to let everyone judge the matter."
As Wen Chunhua spoke, she realized how absurd the story was and started laughing at herself.
"Playing a movie for judgment? How is it judged?" Wen Sheng asked curiously.
"You know what, Zhang Tiezhu is really quite considerate. He paid five yuan of his own gas coupons to let the film projection team arrive early, insisting that he was the victim in the movie and wanted to use the film to warn everyone."
"As it turned out, the projection team brought the wrong film. They were supposed to show 'Tunnel Warfare,' but they showed 'Shaolin Temple' instead."
Wen Sheng never expected this farcical turn of events. She laughed so hard she almost dropped her umbrella, tears welling up in her eyes: "Wouldn't Zhang Tiezhu be furious?"
"Of course. Before the movie even started, he moved a small stool and stood in front of the projection screen to give a speech."
Wen Chunhua mimicked Zhang Tiezhu's tone and said, "I didn't come here to watch a show today; I came to seek justice. I've been tending this vegetable garden just fine, so why can't I complain when chickens peck at it?"
"Before he could finish speaking, the projection team suddenly started the movie."
Wen Sheng suppressed a laugh and asked, "Will he continue?"
"I can't continue." Wen Chunhua also suppressed a laugh. "As soon as Jet Li appeared on the screen, the kids in the audience started shouting 'Shaolin Kung Fu is great!' Some even tried to do the splits. Zhang Tiezhu was speechless and his face turned almost green."
"That's not the funniest part. The funniest part is that Aunt Li's chickens have come out again."
Wen Sheng's eyes widened: "No way?"
“Really!” Wen Chunhua said, laughing so hard she could hardly breathe. “I don’t know how we got out, but Zhang Tiezhu said we had to perform a ‘chicken-catching technique’ and he insisted on catching a chicken on the spot.”
"As soon as he bent down, the chicken ran away. He tried to chase it away, but Aunt Li got anxious, rolled up her sleeves and blocked his way, saying, 'If you dare touch my chicken, I'll bring people to ruin your vegetable garden tonight.'"
Wen Sheng's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she laughed as she walked, "Aunt Li is still as domineering as ever."
"Of course, Zhang Tiezhu was so frightened by her words that he immediately sat obediently in the first row."
"Was the movie still shown?"
"Show it." Wen Chunhua clicked her tongue. "The projection team is here, so why not show it? As a result, the whole village was like it was New Year's. The children sat on the ground in front, and the adults ate sunflower seeds while watching. The old hen squatted by the projection screen, watching the screen without moving. Zhang Tiezhu complained that the hen was provoking him."
She added with a smile, "Those kids watched and tried to learn the moves. They couldn't sit still. They were doing somersaults and throwing punches all over the place, saying they wanted to learn Shaolin Kung Fu so they could help their families catch chickens and protect vegetables."
Wen Sheng couldn't stop laughing, feeling as if she were back at the scene watching the excitement.
"Did you follow suit and learn from them too?"
Wen Chunhua's thoughts were exposed, and her ears turned red. Her eyes darted around, trying to find an excuse to cover it up. She hummed, but her voice was clearly weak: "I'm not that childish!"
Seeing Wen Sheng staring at her and smiling, she finally couldn't hold back and whispered, "I'll learn the moves for you when we get home."
"Great. But it's a shame we missed out on something so interesting," Wen Sheng said with a smile.
“When you come back next time, you can catch the next movie.” Wen Chunhua glanced at her. “But if you still don’t learn your lesson and come back without an umbrella, don’t expect to hear me talk about the village next time.”
Wen Sheng immediately smiled and apologized, "How could I dare? I was just so happy to see you that I completely forgot about the umbrella."
"Hmph." Wen Chunhua retorted, "Next time, I'll make you come back in the rain by yourself."
I've become familiar with the village road ahead. After entering high school, the village hasn't changed much; there are still the same few houses and the same few dogs at the village entrance.
Wen Sheng looked at the road in front of her and sighed softly.
"Why are you sighing?" Wen Chunhua asked. "It's not like it's the first time you've left."
"I was just thinking, after all these years, how come our road home hasn't changed at all?"
“How could there be no change? Didn’t my Wen family produce someone who went to high school?” Wen Chunhua said proudly.
"Chunhua," Wen Sheng suddenly called her in a low voice.
"Um?"
“If you want to go to school in the future, I’ll find a way to help you.” She paused, then added, “No matter what you want to study, it’s not too late, even if you only think about it now.”
Wen Chunhua stopped walking, but did not answer her question immediately.
The rain stopped sometime ago, the wind blew a corner of the clouds open, the sky brightened a bit, and the puddles on the ground reflected a faint light.
Wen Chunhua looked up at the sky and saw that most of the dark clouds overhead had dispersed and a few rays of light were still visible on the horizon. She subconsciously closed her umbrella and shook off the water droplets: "Wen Sheng, it's dawn."
As soon as she finished speaking, a drop of rain fell "plop" onto her forehead, followed by a few more drops on her neck and collar.
"Huh? It's still raining?" She was taken aback and turned to look at Wen Sheng.
Wen Sheng, who was standing to the side, did not close the umbrella. Instead, she silently tilted the umbrella towards her, covering her under it again.
The space under the umbrella was small, and the two were shoulder to shoulder.
Wen Sheng reached out and touched the outside of the umbrella. Her fingertips were quickly wet by the drizzle. She said in a low voice, "It's still raining. Don't rush to close the umbrella."
"Luckily I had this umbrella, otherwise I would have gotten soaked," Wen Chunhua joked.
Wen Sheng smiled and shook her head gently: "It's fortunate that you still remembered to pick me up."
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